Sirius, XM reps chat up FCC, post-merger pricing detailed

With that little Department of Justice business out of their way, Sirius and XM have unsurprisingly been quick to start chatting up the all-important FCC, and a recent filing from the agency has now revealed that lawyers from the two companies have met with none other than FCC Chairman Kevin Martin himself, along with other higher-ups. Even more interesting, however, is that the same filing also includes a full rundown of the companies' proposed post-merger pricing plans, which don't appear to have changed much from those detailed way back in the early days of the merger. Starting with the basics, the Sirius and XM "Everything" plans will hang on to the same $12.95 per month price tag, and include approximately 130 and 170 channels, respectively. From there, each service has A La Carte options starting at $6.99 a month (with additional channels costing 25 cents apiece), along with the usual package options ranging in price from $9.99 for the Mostly Music and News, Sports and Talk bundles to $16.99 for the "Sirius Everything & Select XM" or "XM Everytyhing & Select Sirius" packages. Be sure to hit up the PDF available at the link below for the complete rundown.

[darex Posted Mar 29th 2008 10:23AM]

Let's face it: some people could could care less about Stern, or they'd already be with Sirius, I guess.

I am only interested in Sirius for its extra news channels, like CBC, BBC, and NPR.

The rest, like FirstWave are crap compared to their superior equivalent on XM (FRED).

So, for me, 11 channels, as long as I can chose which they are, is probably about all I would care to have off of Sirius' line-up.

Conversely, if I lose FRED in favor of FirstWave, due to the alluded to "overlapping of service", I'm canceling it all.

[Carney Posted Mar 28th 2008 1:40PM]

I don't know about this merger... if DirecTV and Dish Network were blocked from merging because having a monopoly provider of sat TV is bad, why can XM and Sirius merge? Is a monopoly provider of sat radio good?

XM and Sirius have competed furiously, and consumers have benefited, regardless of what you're into.

Sirius: Oprah
XM: Martha Stewart

Sirus: E Street Radio (Bruce Springsteen)
XM: Willie Nelson

Sirius: Howard Stern
XM: Opie and Anthony

Etc etc.

[Redwoodflyer Posted Mar 28th 2008 10:59PM]

I thought XM had Oprah? Why do I suddenly have the urge to eat some fried chicken and watermelon?

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 28th 2008 2:15PM]

I'm a Sirius subscriber. I was for the merger because I wanted Stern, MLB and NFL in one place. But based on the document, it looks like that won't happen. Also looks like XM folks can't get Stern. How is this merger beneficial? Did I miss something?

[Mls412 Posted Mar 28th 2008 2:26PM]

Good question!!!

[CBXweb Posted Mar 28th 2008 2:33PM]

Call me a racial epithet, but all I want is Shade 45.

[Luke Posted Mar 28th 2008 4:35PM]

cracker

[CBXweb Posted Mar 29th 2008 3:50AM]

Rude! I'm black. :P

[dbvii Posted Mar 28th 2008 3:23PM]

OnA Party Rock, Ron and Fez Noon-3

They better keep The Virus

[killshot230 Posted Mar 28th 2008 4:50PM]

I didn't see an option to have a Sirius unit and an XM unit and get family plan pricing. I subscribe to both services and would just like to combine both into 1 bill and reduce the fee on one of the units so I'm not paying $12.95 for both. I don't want to have to go out and buy another radio just so I can reduce my monthly subscription fees. I'm sure there are other people out there that have 2 cars with factory installed radios 1 being Sirius and the other being XM. This should be a no brainer option.

I'm also disappointed that I will not be able to add MLB to my Sirius unit. I don't think it's worth the extra $4 per month just to get 11 extra XM select stations. What stations will they be? It would be great if they would give us the ability to change stations monthly through a web portal so we truly could have ala cart stations.

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 31st 2008 12:43PM]

Good things come with a price. Free radio as you may call it is not free. You have the same old boring songs played to death. If you switch stations your back at commercials or the same song again. Sirius is the future and so call free radio is antique with its politics and nonsense. I rather pay and have my choice then listen to free radio and be subjected to listen to the same old thing. I had Sirius since day one and I'll never go back to regular radio. As for Sat. TV welcome to modern day cave people. More channels and better quality. DOn't even say that DTV will be better because it's not HD like Sat.TV. Wake Up People! The future is amoung you.

[Ladderless Posted Mar 29th 2008 9:29AM]

$12.95 per month?!? WTF?

I didn't realize so few people knew there were ways around that. Go to one of the deal sites (Fat Wallet, Slick Dealz, etc) and see how you can get it for much less.

[admmck Posted Mar 29th 2008 2:19PM]

So, If I'm with XM right now, will I have any options to get NFL, NBA, and Play-by-play for those from Sirius' line-up post-merger?
I'm definitely confused.

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 31st 2008 10:54AM]

And they said consumers were going to loose. $6.99 for only the 50 stations that I want - freakin a. It's about bloody time somebody stepped up and offered true a la carte. You watching this Comcrap?